Dear Diary
by Moonlight Music Mistress
Summary: When Zoro finds Nami's diary, he realizes that she's not as shallow and wicked as he thought. After he finds out about the tragedies in her heart, he embarks on a journey to save her from herself. Zoro x Nami.
1. The Discovery

Dear Diary

Zoro x Nami

Chapter One

Well! Looking at how much I loved my last One Piece fanfic, I'm going to write another one! Zoro and Nami are my all-time favorite anime couple. I adore them together! I'm going to write a lot more, and a lot of my stories will feature them! Review, please! Thank you.

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"Breakfast!" Sanji called.

That annoying cook has the most annoying voice of anybody on the entire ship, I've decided. Well, Nami's pretty close, but nobody could possibly be more aggravating to listen to than Sanji. Him and his constant squealing and beckoning over the girls, and his general tendency to never shut his mouth. I've been very tempted throughout my time on this ship with him – tempted to take my katana and nail him hard. But then I wouldn't have any good food to eat, so I guess you just have to live with some things. Take the bad with the good.

Trudging along, I stepped out from the deck, groaning. Then, I made my way towards the kitchen, where breakfast was prepared. As I'd expected, Luffy was breathing heavily and excitedly as he stared longingly at the food on the table. How typical. I glanced around the room. No Nami. Where was she? Whatever.

"Where's Nami-swan?" Sanji asked lovingly. Ugh. That voice again.

"She's probably still sleeping," Robin replied monotonously. "Zoro. You haven't sat down yet. Why don't you go wake our navigator up?"

What? Why me? Nami's a force to be reckoned with when she doesn't get her way, and I doubt she'll be very happy to have me interrupting her slumber. Especially me, too. Anybody else waking her up wouldn't have been as big a deal, but me? After all, I'm starting to believe that I'm her least favorite person on the ship. She absolutely hates me, it seems. Constantly nagging me to pay off nonexistent debt and, overall, just being that annoying little pain that she is towards me. It doesn't really bother me, though. I don't like her much, either. The mutual dislike leads us to try to avoid each other. Even so, we're paired up a lot some way or another, and it always leads to bickering. But, like I said. I guess I'll just take the bad with the good for now.

"Sure," I agreed. I was tired. There wasn't any point in arguing.

I made my way towards Nami's quarters and gently creaked open the door. If she was awake and I'd just burst in there, who knows what kind of things she'd have done to me. For that reason, I pushed the door open a speck and peered in quietly.

The lights were still out, which meant she was still sleeping, I figured. I stepped inside carefully and said emotionlessly, "Nami." No response.

Well.

"Nami."

I said it louder this time, but not loud enough to have her waking up, wailing her lungs out at me.

Still no answer from her. I didn't know Nami was such a heavy sleeper. I flicked the lights on, hoping she'd stir in her sleep and wake up. Also, immediately knowing I'd regret it, I decided to stride over slowly towards her bed, where I'd gently shake her until she woke up. As I walked over towards her bed, I peered down and reached for her. However, I couldn't feel anything. Nami wasn't there.

"Nami?" I asked again, unsure of why I was asking such a question when nothing was in the room but air. If she wasn't in her bed, and she wasn't in the kitchen getting her breakfast, where was she? Well, either way, she had to be somewhere on the ship. She had to be safe and sound, so I didn't worry one bit.

When I went back towards the door to turn the lights back off and exit her quarters, I noticed something on her dresser. There was a tiny little key. Next to it appeared to be a book of some sort, with a little metal lock perpendicular to the pages on the side. A diary? What did Nami have a diary for? Where'd she get it? Why'd she need it? I'd never seen it before, but, then again, when was I ever in Nami's quarters? She could've had it all along, for all I knew. I'd just never seen it before, and I'd be lying if I said my curiosity wasn't peaked a bit.

If I were to open the diary up and read it a little bit, how would she even know? She's not in the room. I'd unlock the diary, skim through the pages a little bit, lock it again, and put the key back. She would never know a thing. Even so, I had to question myself. Why should I have cared what she kept in her diary? I mean, I know it's natural to be curious, but I normally wouldn't think twice about the fact that she had a diary. I supposed it was a weird thought; who would ever imagine that Nami would have deep, longing secrets to hide in a diary? She certainly seems like a shallow, bitter young woman on the outside, and I'd assumed all along that her inner self was very similar. Still, though. It was a compelling thought. For a reason I wasn't sure of, I felt that I needed to read her diary. Everything about the situation, however, was wrong. She was Nami, which meant she'd find out and try to murder me. It was also an invasion of her privacy and not my business. Despite this, I still felt that something would be unfinished if I didn't read it. Against my better judgment, and for a reason I wasn't totally sure of, I decided to pick up the key and put it in the hole. Then, I turned the key, put it on the dresser gently, and opened up the diary to the first page.

_Dear Diary,_

_I've tried everything, but nothing's worked, so I've resorted to buying this diary from an island we visited recently._

Whoa. Before I even read any further, I felt anger fuming up inside of me. That little hypocrite! She was always reprimanding us for buying the slightest little thing, and then she goes and wastes money on something that couldn't possibly be more trivial. A diary? What did she need it for, anyway? What could Nami possibly have to say? Ignoring the thought, I sighed heavily and continued reading. She'd started a new paragraph after her opening line.

_I'm having some troubles lately, and I've thought and meditated and tried everything else to clear my mind of them. I'm not the most emotional person in the world, and I like to keep my feelings to myself, so that's why I've gotten this diary. Now, I can safely write in it without anybody knowing my business. I hope that this investment will be a good one, and I hope that I can find some solace by writing to you. So, I'm going to start writing down some problems that I have in my daily life, and maybe unleashing my feelings on paper will be better. After all, I don't trust anyone enough to tell them how I'm feeling. I'm counting on you._

_Nami_

My eyes widened.

What's up with her? When did she, all of a sudden, become this emotional and deep person that had so much to say? Why didn't she trust us? So many questions raced through my head, so many feelings. The dominant one, however, was shock. I wondered why Nami was so intent on hiding everything from us, and, even more so, that she wasn't as shallow as I'd perceived.

I'd had no idea that Nami felt like this. I thought that Luffy had made it clear that she could talk to us at any time. More importantly, I wondered what would help her to stop it. Meditating and thinking about her problems - I'd never seen her meditating or lost in thought or anything spiritual like that. I thought she was a shallow and moody navigator, nothing more. I didn't know that she had problems like this, but I was determined to figure them out, all of a sudden. It was strange, considering I'd never cared much for Nami. But the overwhelming emotion of guilt was a bit consuming. I'd called her a hypocrite for purchasing the diary, when it turned out that she truly needed it. My change in heart towards her was a bit of a foreign emotion, but I still decided that I'd persevere and try to find out what was going on. And she'd never know.

I put the diary back in its respective spot on her dresser, where it'd been before I entered her room, and shut the lights out. Leaving her room, I walked back into the kitchen. Still no sign of Nami. Was she okay?

At the moment, I didn't even care. I couldn't even think about anything except the fact that Nami, snide and cunning, heartless Nami, had a heart and things on her mind that she couldn't even express to the crew. The thought stayed in my mind as I entered the kitchen, where two plates of breakfast were on the table: one for me, and one for Nami. I took my seat and picked up my utensils, picking absentmindedly at my meal.

"Where's Nami?" Usopp asked, mid-chew.

I looked down at my food, as if the answer to the question would be hidden somewhere in it. A look of complete trance overtook my face; I didn't even look up from my plate when I replied.

"I don't know."

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Hmm. Well, I hope it didn't stink! I will make this a multi-chapter. :) Thank you for reading!


	2. The Decision

Dear Diary

Zoro x Nami

Chapter Two

Well, hey! I'm going through a mild ZoNa phase right now, so I've decided to post a new chapter of "Dear Diary" for you all. =) Enjoy, and don't forget to review!

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"Oi, Nami-swan!" Sanji called, hearts forming in his eyes as he pulled a chair up for her. It's so typical of him, overreacting like this to every little thing. "Where have you been?"

Six minutes had passed, and Nami finally decided to descend from wherever she was to attend breakfast with us all as she nodded slightly at Sanji and sat down. My mind raced through the information I'd received from her diary as I looked up from my food. Maybe it was my imagination and I was anticipating her to look annoyed or even sad, but she appeared haggard and tired.

"I was just in the bathroom, Sanji. Don't worry about it," she replied to Sanji's previous question.

The bathroom. Of course I hadn't looked in the bathroom. Why would I intentionally disturb her privacy?

"Eat, my beauty! Eat. I have prepared delicious waffles especially for you, my love!" Sanji declared, firmly placing a large plate of waffles on the table for her to eat. Luffy nodded enthusiastically, as if concurring to Sanji's statement about the delectableness of the waffles. Nami simply picked up her utensil and picked at her waffle nonchalantly. She didn't end up eating much of her breakfast.

The conversation at the breakfast table was lively, the prime participants being Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp. Nami occasionally pitched in to the conversation; I supposed everyone else hadn't sensed anything different. I, however, had read her diary. I knew that something strange was definitely going on. Was she trying to hide her real feelings by acting somewhat normal? For a reason I wasn't sure of, and certainly wasn't comfortable with, I felt compelled to figure out exactly what was wrong with her.

Why did I care about her so much, all of a sudden? I mean, she's always been my friend, but I've never felt emotional concern for her that was parallel to this. My brain raced through reasons that possibly could hold the answer for my worry, but I couldn't seem to find any logical ones. The reason that I was so concerned, I supposed, was shock. Nami, having a personal diary. It would be like Luffy not eating for a day – unfathomable.

When breakfast ended, I decided to go about my day normally. I lifted my weights and took an afternoon nap as the ship smoothly sailed along. My mind, when I focused it on something else, didn't divert to Nami as frequently as it had during breakfast. Once I was occupied, I was relaxed, and I realized that Nami was alright.

Nami had a diary, after all. She didn't need us to talk to about her problems. She even said so herself: she couldn't trust any of us with her private information. I was quite confident that the diary would bring her comfort, since it was, after all, the only thing she felt she could turn to. For that reason, I kicked the thoughts of her possible emotional problems out of my mind. Besides, based on what I knew of her past, Nami was always a strong-willed, brave, emotionally tough woman. The kind of person who could get through anything without anyone else's help. And even if she wasn't the headstrong person she was, and even if she didn't have a tangible friend to write to, it's not like she'd ever go to me, of all the people on the Going Merry, if she had something to say. Robin, probably. Maybe even Sanji. But I was certain that I'd be the last person she'd ever consider spilling her heart out to. All for the better, though – I would rather skip my naps for a week than engage myself in a heart-to-heart talk with that wench Nami. It wasn't something I'd needed to worry about, anyway. When Nami had made up her mind, she'd make it up and that would be final; she'd stated clearly that she would never tell any of us of her emotional problems, as strange as it was to me that she had them in the first place. There was no swaying her the other way.

I mentally kicked myself for even trying to get involved in the first place as I reclined with my hands behind my head on the deck of the ship, my favorite resting place. Bitter old Nami didn't need my help or intervention. Why had I even decided to try butting in?

Solemnly, I closed my eyes and blocked out all thoughts of that red-haired girl. My slow drift from consciousness to lack thereof was beginning to commence, and the calm aura around me helped put me in a sleepy trance. I was, in fact, almost asleep when the calm aura turned unsettlingly depressing. Almost as if a button was pressed that changed the mood of the deck from serene to sad, I instantly knew that someone had entered the deck. And, when I opened my eyes, I wasn't at all surprised to see Nami.

Quickly, I shut my eyes again and listened to her wistful-sounding footsteps tapping across the deck. When they finally stopped, I figured it would be safe to open my eyes and see what she was doing. I did, only to be greeted by her back; she had her arms folded across the front of the boat, staring out into the world.

So she wasn't exaggerating in her diary. Nami really was going through something. It was painfully evident based on the intensely deep aura of sadness that radiated from her. Even I could sense that. If only I could see her facial expression from where I lay on the ship, in order to confirm it. In the end, I found it unnecessary. Anyone on the deck who saw her dejected figure would be able to conclude that Nami was very upset about something.

My eyes were lazily focused on her back when I noticed a sharp tensing of her upper body, followed promptly by a backwards extension of her right arm. All in a quick, sharp, swift sequence, her arm jerked behind her and released something strongly into the depths of the ocean. Widening, my eyes weren't believing what they were seeing as she proceeded to give the front of the ship a staccato kick. My senses also were in disbelief; the anger she was releasing was unlike any I'd seen. It was almost frightening.

In a split second, I saw her body begin to turn around, heading back towards the inside of the ship. Thankfully, my reflexes were quick enough so that I shut my eyes before she could tell that I was watching her. Angrily and fiercely, I heard her feet marching towards the inside of the ship, where she'd probably go in and maintain a normal façade as she seemed to during breakfast. When I couldn't hear her feet anymore, I got up and walked over to where she was standing before, at the front of the ship.

Whatever she'd thrown in the ship was long gone by now. I stared into the water and pondered what I'd seen. Because, for a split second, I was able to see her facial expression when she turned around. It was a strange mixture of anger and hatred and sadness, all combining together into her eyes. It was amazing to me, really, how much she'd unknowingly revealed to me in that time span of less than a second.

Whatever it was, though, my earlier decision to not butt into her life was aborted. I knew now that Nami needed us. One stupid little book wouldn't help her at all, but a real, living person might have been able to. I disregarded the fact that I had no idea why I was concerned enough to help and remembered her face. Nami, even though I wasn't fond of her very much, was my friend. She needed somebody, and if I was the only person who _knew_ that she needed somebody, so be it.

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Yay! I love finishing chapters. Review, please!


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